ASUS G51J 3D 15.6″ Gaming Notebook

Before we tackle the results, let’s quickly review our basic notebook testing methodology. The first step in preparing the notebook is to completely wipe the factory OS and install our own (Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit). This is to prevent pre-installed applications from skewing our performance results. We then use the included DVD-ROM to install all of the necessary drivers. Also, Windows Search Indexing and a few other Windows services are manually disabled, to further help with producing accurate and repeatable results.

Once the machine is prepared for benchmarking, it’s shut down and set on a flat surface with plenty of room for airflow until it’s completely cooled down. Once benchmarking gets underway, the machine is boot and left to sit idle at the Windows desktop for five minutes, at which point testing begins. Each test is run through twice, with a reboot taking place in between each run.

To test notebooks out through some common usage scenarios, we use PCMark Vantage to do a full run through our machine to see where it excels, and also a couple of real-world applications, such as Adobe Lightroom, TMPGEnc Xpress, dBpoweramp and 3ds Max 2009. Each benchmark we use is run twice over (with a reboot in between) to assure that what we saw the first time is accurate. Our temperature tests are captured with the help of a temperature gun.

While the G51J 3D is so similar in design to the G51Vx, the best comparison above is to the W90, as both feature quad-cores. That said, the differences that Intel’s latest architecture is rather stark. The default clock for the W90 was 2.0GHz, so Lynnfield’s Turbo truly shines here. Where memory is concerned, there’s just no comparison. The bandwidth can be argued to mean little, but even the latency shows a great improvement.

From a temperatures standpoint, the G51J 3D manages to get a bit hotter than the G51Vx, likely due to the more robust processor. Even during regular use I noticed the notebook to get hotter than the previous model we looked at. The heat is primarily exported through the left side, and is rarely noticed unless you happen to set a glass there, or rest your hand during regular use.

Gaming Performance

Of course, the moment you’ve been waiting for. Below are screenshots from various games we loaded up on the notebook, with the basic setting configuration listed below each one. Rather than deliver Min/Avg/Max FPS reports, for our notebook reviews we instead just take a screenshot of the game with FRAPS. Unfortunately, I foolishly forgot to enable the FPS counter when grabbing screenshots, but you can be rest assured, what you see below is with very playable framerates.

Batman Arkham Asylum – 1366×768, Max Detail, 4xAA

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – 1366×768, Max Detail, 4xAA

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood – 1366×768, Max Detail, 4xAA

Crysis Warhead – 1366×768, Mainstream Detail, 0xAA

Dirt 2 – 1366×768, Max Detail, 4xAA

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin – 1366×768, Max Detail, 4xAA

Left 4 Dead 2 – 1366×768, Max Detail, 4xAA

GRID – 1366×768, Max Detail, 4xAA

For the most part, I was quite happy with the gaming performance that the GTX 260M delivered, and it was about on par with what I expected to see. The vast majority of today’s games will run at max detail settings just fine, and some can even use anti-aliasing. The exception is of course Crysis Warhead (which as far as games are concerned, is a total glutton for system resources).

Because the 3D mode essentially renders the same frame twice, you can expect performance to be literally halved when enabled. For most games shown above, this isn’t a problem, simply because they achieve such high frame rates to begin with, but with others, it can be. Crysis, for example, doesn’t run that well even with modest settings, and it’s no surprise given that it’s a totally brutal game on hardware. For what it’s worth, the 3D effect in that title isn’t too good to begin with, so you aren’t missing much by keeping the 3D off.

Two other games that experience notable slowdowns with 3D enabled are Arkham Asylum and Modern Warfare 2. The former can reach very playable framerates simply by disabling anti-aliasing.. that’s it. It’s nothing major, and when in 3D, you won’t really notice the AA missing. For Modern Warfare 2, the 3D effect isn’t superb to begin with, and with it enabled, the game is a bit laggy with 4xAA, so disabling it is the route to go.

I’ll talk a bit more about the 3D aspect on the following page, along with my wrap-up.